Death is an inevitable part of life, but knowing this does nothing to alleviate its shock and sadness. And so it is that the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has brought palpable grief to the nation and beyond.
Even many republicans concede that it is impossible to imagine a more fitting and stabilizing figure than Queen Elizabeth II for the building of the modern age. Without preaching a political word, her quiet love, stoic acceptance and gentle compassion has been a resonant bass note for the multi-faceted Britain of today. We have not only lost a remarkable individual, but the symbolic sense of everything that was achieved and fought for throughout her life.
It was not until the hushed drama unfolded in another House of Commons broadcast, culminating in the worst fears confirmed by day’s end, that the magnitude of history hit me. After initial sadness, I felt fortunate and humbled to have lived the first 25 years of my life under her reign. Speaking to people in Edinburgh, I know that I am not alone in feeling the Queen’s death on an unexpectedly personal level.
On closer reflection, this is not surprising at all.
When we are very young and first gaining our sense of the world, we have no inkling or interest in who the Prime Minister is. The intrigues of government and politics are nothing more than noise on the news channel.
But the Queen was a different story. We saw her on stamps, on coins, on trinkets and tea towels. You cannot explain to a child who the foreign secretary is, but you can answer their curiosity about who the warm, white-haired lady in a dress is - “that’s the Queen!” – and the child intuitively understands, seeing her as a grandmother figure.
As adults, the familial pull of the Royal Family only becomes more apparent. Like an evening soap opera, some version of the same trials and tribulations played out for successive generations, a mirror to our own troubles. Whoever you are and whatever circumstances you were born into, family highs and lows are universal.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, like a great grandmother’s birthday party, was full of joy and affection from young and old alike. At the Buckingham Palace concert, a poignant moment was the drone light display. The horses and corgis that lit up the sky were a thoughtful nod to some of the Queen’s favourite things, akin to a gesture that anyone might make for their grandma, like baking a cake with an icing print of her cat.
Some would say that they could not relate to the Queen or the Royal Family, seeing them as representing only “outdated” mores. I would say that the Queen evolved gracefully with the times whilst retaining an old-world wisdom.
The Queen quietly revelled in creativity and innovation, from “sky diving” with James Bond, to tea with Paddington Bear, to tapping her cup to the ultimate rock beat. “Empowering” is an over-used word, but Queen means it. When Royalty and rock royalty collide, there is nothing stuffy and old fashioned about that.
Fortune decided Queen Elizabeth II’s hand at birth, but her calm sense of balance against the tumults of politics was still testament to her character. She showed that leadership does not have to be loud, opinionated or enacted with an iron will. The embodiment of an ancient institution, she inspired affection and respect in modern people simply by existing. She was perhaps the most skilled, empathic arbiter of soft power in the history of British monarchs.
There is a hauntingly empty space that the late Queen has left behind, but life will go on. If her descendants can, as she did, just gently be, then the monarchy will have a welcome future.
“Grief is the price we pay for love” - Queen Elizabeth II
Rock on, Queen Elizabeth II, 1926-2022